It’s been three-and-a-half years since Magalhaes last set foot in the Octagon. Looking back, it’s easy for him to realize the mistakes of his youth.

“Being back in the UFC means a lot to me,” Magalhaes said in an interview for his sponsor, Xyience. “This time, actually, I feel like I’m prepared to be in the UFC. The first time, even though I thought back then that I was prepared, I wasn’t really prepared. I was training with an MMA team, but I wasn’t training MMA myself.”

Magalhaes, now 28, believes he has the maturity to be successful in the UFC. Life has come at him full force, so his outlook is quite a bit different than it was as a young kid making his way to the Octagon via The Ultimate Fighter reality series.

Magalhaes finished as the runner-up to Ryan Bader on TUF 8, but losing to Bader in the final and then Eliot Marshall in a follow-up fight left him searching for answers. With a record of 2-4, he needed to right the ship… and fast.

He’s done just that. Magalhaes has gone 7-1 since his UFC exodus, including racking up five consecutive victories as he heads back to the Octagon, his sights dialed in on his career and providing for his family.

Magalhaes has a difficult task before him, however. With a 25-8 record, Pokrajac has more than double the experience of Magalhaes and has a penchant for knocking out his opposition.

“I feel like I’m a horrible match-up for him,” said Magalhaes, not intimidated by his opponent’s reputation. “He’s a good striker, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he’s as great as people think he is.”

Saturday night’s fight will tell the tale.

Check out Vinny Magalhaes’ full Xyience interview and training video, as he talks more about his UFC return, his workouts, and discusses training Chael Sonnen and the backlash he received from fellow Brazilians.

If Vinny can get Igor to the ground we will more than likely see the submission of night. If not, he may get knocked out…should be an exciting fight either way.

And for those unfamiliar with Magalhaes, go to youtube and watch his grappling match with Chris Weidman. About a minute into the fight he submits Weidman with just a nasty flying armbar. When it comes to BJJ, this guy is the real deal.

bajafox

He couldn’t hack it in his first run cause his stand up was horrible. He relied way too much on his BJJ.

Hopefully his time off has made him more well rounded, if he can crack the top 10 it could make for some interesting match ups.